Thursday, June 4, 2009

John 4:23-24. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

I am going to say something that will rattle most Baptist’s cages. Many Baptists worship heritage and doctrine rather than God. We seem to have adopted the philosophy that God is obligated to bless and honor Baptists only. If so, why was Finney, Spurgeon, Wesley, Moody, Sunday so successful in reaching souls when they didn’t follow Baptist doctrine? These men weren’t doctrinally straight in many areas, yet God blessed their preaching with many souls.

Why are present Baptists so anemic? We have the truth. We are doctrinally correct. We have the Preserved Word of God in the KJV, yet we don’t have enough of the power of God to knock the fuzz off a peach. Why?

Why are the contemporary congregations, who are so wrong, growing by leaps and bounds? Why are many Independent, KJV, Baptist churches closing down? Is it because we Baptists have laid down the sword and gone into a resting mode. Satan is still active, and alert.

I don’t know that I know all the answers. I do know that we have lost something. Something has changed in the last 30 years and we no longer are on the offensive pursuit that we once were.

I know that there are some true Baptist churches that are doing everything right for the Lord, and souls are being saved weekly. The kingdom of God is healthy in some churches, but many Baptists have gone into retirement, and laid aside the commission to teach all nations, and instead have started sleeping with the doctrine they once held so dear.

You will recall the church at Ephesus in Rev 2:1-5 – they were doing everything according to the book. The Lord Jesus commended them on their attention to the doctrinal issues – but He reprimanded them because they had left their first love.

We do know this – We are to worship God:

WE ARE TO WORSHIP GOD

We are not to worship the things of God. Many worship the blessings of God.Let me list some things that many Baptists worship that we should not worship.

A. We Are Not To Worship His Creation.(Rom 1:25) "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." Many worship the creation of God – Nature followers. Nature is their thing. They place more emphasis on nature than on the Person of God. There is nothing more beautiful and intriguing than God’s creation, but it must never become the object of our worship.

There are a lot of fundamental Christians who will take vacations and miss two, three, maybe even four weeks away from their own church camping on God’s creation, admiring the scenery taking pictures of the sunset, etc. They say, “What a wonderful God we have.” No, no. They are saying, “What a wonderful creation we have.”

When it takes a person or family away from His place of service, it is an idol. When we choose it above Him it is an idol.

B. We Are Not To Worship His Word. We Baptists are strange creatures. We stand proud in that we uphold the truth of God’s Word as preserved in the KJV. We are correct in holding on to that truth. Those who accept another version are misinformed. They have been taught a lie. Just because we hold on to the truth it is not to be the object of our worship. We are to worship the God of the Word, and not the Word of God.

God said, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” That would include the Bible

C. We Are Not To Worship His Doctrine. We have the true doctrine as taught by Christ Himself while He was upon the earth, and for the most part independent, fundamental Baptist believe and accept that doctrine as given by the Lord. We are to hold that doctrine sacred, and worthy of our faith and practice, but it is not to be the object of our worship.

We are not responsible for any other Baptist church. Each church will account to God for their position whether it be right or wrong.

D. We Are Not To Worship His Churches.1. Jesus Christ Himself organized the N.T. Church during His earthly ministry, It is most important to have the proper organization of the N.T. Church. (Mat 16:18) "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."2. Jesus died for the church. (Eph 5:25) "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ Also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"3. Salvation is not in the church. There are some denominations that preach a person must be a member of their church to be saved. That is contrary to the Bible. “He that hath the Son hath life” (eternal life.)

(2 Cor 5:17) "Therefore if any man be in Christ, (NOT IN THE CHURCH) he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

E. We Are Not To Worship Any Organization.There are people who worship the SBC, ABC, BBF, GARBC. There are those who worship the Promise Keepers, Associations, Programs, Schools. I know pastors that seem to hold their alma mater more dear than the Lord God. Institutions. Mission Boards.